On Tuesday, January 30th, President Donald Trump issued his first State of the Union Address. The annual State of the Union address is an opportunity to outline agenda items, highlight successes and present solutions to problems facing the nation. Many looked at Trump, a lightning rod for controversy, and his speech as an opportunity to reset the stage and bring a sense of unity to the country. Tahoma News writers Jace Sheridan and Anika Wilson watched the speech, providing their insights and opinions on the state of our union.

Sophomore Jace Sheridan:

President Donald J. Trump started his first State of the Union Address on a positive note, stating that the nation is “strong because our people are strong”. He strongly addressed how he is going to crack-down on illegal immigration by fixing loopholes in our immigration system.

Two fathers and two mothers were in attendance, their names are, “Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddy Quaves, Elizabeth Alvarado, and Robert Mickens”. They lost two teenage daughters, Kayla Quaves, and Nissa Mickens who were close friends who lived on Long Island, New York. In September of 2016 on the eve of Nissa’s 16th birthday, they were both brutally murdered while walking home by six members of the MS13 gang.They took advantages of loopholes in our laws and came here as illegal minors, who wound up at Kayla and Nissa’s high school.

I agree that there should be strong borders. Us, the American people, should always come first. If it was the other way around and we were flooding into Mexico, they definitely would not let us in. Let’s look at Mexico’s immigration laws, Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be imprisoned (Article 116). Foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported and/or imprisoned as felons (Article 117). Illegal immigration is a felony (Articles 123, 125). Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law. For example, a Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison (Article 127). Fundamental property rights are denied to foreigners. Article 27 states: “Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership of lands, waters and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or of waters.” By far Mexico is tougher on immigration than the U.S. has been. But no longer shall that be the case.

There also was another important guest attending, his name is Ji Seong-ho. In 1996 he tried to steal some coal from the railroad to trade for some food but passed out from exhaustion and starvation. He woke up when a train was running his limbs over. He went through multiple amputations with nothing to ease the pain. His brother and sister gave what little food they had so he could recover, and ate dirt which permanently stunted their growth. After returning from a short trip to China, he was tormented, they wanted to know if he met any Christians. He had. He then made his mind up to escape. His family followed suit, but his father was caught and was tortured to death. Ji Seong-ho is a prime example of what communism can cause, complete and utter devastation. The fact that there are still people who live in America and think that communism is better than capitalism, is flat out insane. There are children eating dirt in North Korea. This is why President Trump is our President, he will get the job done in the best manner possible.  

Junior Anika Wilson:

Donald Trump bragged about the accomplishments of his administration and boasted of the Americans who have done remarkable things in the past year. President Trump opened his State of the Union Address claiming “Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected, and others we could never have imagined.”

He says that ”The state of our union is strong because our people are strong,”, but what exactly makes America strong right now? Trump spoke largely about the success of the American economy. Since he was elected there has been an increase in American and manufacturing jobs. He claimed in his speech that one of the biggest accomplishments was that “Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low.”

However, this accomplishment cannot be credited to just Donald Trump’s administration. The falling unemployment rate is a continuation of an earlier Obama-era trend. The unemployment rate fell by more than half within the time of his two terms as president. It is important to note that many economists feel skeptical of any presidents position to take credit for the economy’s conditions because many other factors play into what can happen to the country’s financial structure. Although, it goes without saying, the monetary status of the United States of America is in a good place right now.

This is similar to Trump’s statements in regards to the stock market. He claims that “The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value.” Yet President Trump’s success in Wall Street echoes President Obama’s success when he was president. According to PolitiFact, “Starting with Trump’s inauguration, the Dow has risen from 19,827.3 to 25,075.1 — an increase of 26 percent. That’s impressive. But it’s not as impressive as its performance during the equivalent period under Obama. Under Obama, the Dow increased from 7,949.1 to 10,572 — a rise of 33 percent.”

With the new tax cuts now in place, Trump claims that they “provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses.” Yet, households making over $1 million or more a year would be seeing the largest tax cut, not the middle class.

Undeniably, Trump touched on some idealistic concepts outside of the economic success of the nation. He called for more access to experimental treatments for the terminally ill and cheaper prescription drugs, which would be a great move in the direction of better health care.

Notwithstanding, when he called on members of both parties to “protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed.” it struck a controversial note in the viewers. Did he mean what he said when he tweeted that Puerto Ricans affected by Hurricane Maria are “politically motivated ingrates” on Oct 1, 2017, at 4:22 AM? One is considered a U.S. citizen at birth if they were born in Puerto Rico, so shouldn’t they be protected just like the other U.S. citizen and not demonized by divisive rhetoric?

Finally, one of the most talked about events in his presidency in the foreign conflict with North Korea. His strategy is to “modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression. Perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons.” However, his provocative eloquence with North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, doesn’t seem to even attempt to eschew the conflict. He tweeted on January 2, 2018 “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a Democrat from Massachusetts, responded to the address, speaking not directly to foreign issues, but speaking directly to the American people: “you bravely say, “me too.” you steadfastly say, “black lives matter.” you wade through flood waters, battle hurricanes, brave wildfires and mudslides to save a stranger. You battle your own quiet battles every single day… but they have never managed to match the strength of stash strength and spirit of the people united.” Kennedy III took a position that juxtaposes a lot points of Trump’s speech. His response wasn’t about Democrats or Republicans, it was about the American people.

There was a fatal flaw in Trump’s address, as it pitted the Democrats against the Republicans. One of his most controversial statements was when he called on Congress “to empower every Cabinet Secretary with the authority to reward good workers — and to remove Federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.” Which alludes to his ‘Deep State’ conspiracy. Partisan politics will only divide the nation further and create a sense of an unnecessary competition between the two major parties.

There are some positive aspects to Trump’s address, but, undoubtedly, there are also a substantial amount of substandard facets to supplement as well. In George Washington’s farewell address, he warned against “partisan politics” claiming that they posed the greatest threat to the success of America. Whether one has a negative or positive opinion on Trump’s presidency so far, people must put their personal politics aside and be sympathetic to the real social matters and how they will affect everyone, regardless of their background.